The last thing i expected from a short titled "why yankee doodle is a colonial diss track" was to mention Psycho Killer by Talking Heads. We're eating good today i see
Talking heads are so underrated, they did so many genres and styles so well, and even when their songs are famous not many people have heard the artist.
Or as Stephen Fry put it, someone wrote a song about how Americans are too stupid to make fun of, and to prove the point the Americans love it despite not knowing what it means.
A liitle more involved than as explained. The aristocratic young hipsters of the English Aristocracy of the era adopted an exaggerated form of dress involving the wear of large wigs, the expense of which was only readily within the economic means of their class. The Rubes of the colonies are being mocked for thinking that by just sticking a feather into their hat, they not being able to afford the elaborate wig to stick it into, can call themselves 'Macaroni' Akin to putting a Rolex label on a Timex watch. So the Yankees adopted that song of derision to play after they defeated the British forces.
I always thought that Yankee Doodle is the Benny Hill theme, which was originally played by Bill Clinton, and it took YEARS to find out it was a parody of him in a Leslie Nielsen movie who did that, not the original sex offender.
That's exactly it though, the American troops co-opted the insult and proudly sang it upon the surrender of the British. The diss was reversed, back to sender as it were.
Apparently the Dandies of the 19th century adopted a simpler, more “masculine” aesthetic as a rejection of macaroni fashion, which they saw as over-the-top and “foppish”.
It's amazing how polar opposite fashion of 18th century and 19th were. Former is basically Eurovision with men in heels, tights and giant wigs, and latter is UN summit with utensils on heads.
It reminds me of a Sesame Street Special sketch with Grover being a waiter for Mr. jones Mr. J: "THIS WOULD BE A DISH OF MACARONI" G: "well they're called -jenky dooble macarone- that's why" Mr. J: "BUT IF IT'S A HAT WITH A FEATHER! AND IT WOULD BE YOUR IDEA OF A HEALTHY LUNCH! G: "Well, I'm sure it will be rich in fibre
I love that in Kindergarten we used to sing songs after doing the pledge. I LOVED Yankee Doodle song and usually picked that one when it was my turn. 😂 Love that I picked the diss track against my own ancestors. 🤣
@pbsstoried is it possible that the reference in the song is also a variation on the French macquereau? It literally means "mackerel," but as slang, it's a word for "pimp." This is why we call an impressive man a "mack daddy," or that he's "macking on" someone when he's trying to impress them
Related, fishmonger was a slang for pimp in Shakespearean times, notably Hamlet calls Polonius that, implying Ophelia only dates him to spy for her daddy.
It wasn't just having style! They came back soeaking in an "affected continental fashion" and wore odf clothing: the cut of their coats was different, they wore very large wigs with tiny tricorn hats adorning the top, and more. Potentially one of the first queer subcultures in existence!
Macaroni was an extravagant lifestyle which included very tall wigs, the top of which would be up to 9 inches above the head. In Yankee Doodle the feather was supposed to look like a macaroni wig.
@@allendracabal0819 I presumed it's simpler - feathered hat was the most recognizable attribute of high class fashion at the time and phrase to be equivalent of 2000s "these posers just put on black eyeliner and think they're goth".
I recently watched a video explaining that the origin of the word “Dude” comes from this song as well, from the word doodle. It basically meant someone dressed up as something they’re not. Then the term Dude Ranch sprung up meaning the people that were clients basically dressed up in cowboy attire even though they weren’t cowboys and basically played cowboy for a week. I guess it’s the white version of dropping an N bomb, because neither word was originally a term of affection but a slander.
@@malalfordThe Southerners aren't typically using it as a xenophobic insult. The British are. Your comment is like saying, "Black people still use the N Word so I should be allowed to use it as much as I want"
It was also often used during the revolutionary war as a mocking song for the patriots, with some versions even explicitly mentioning “captain washington”. eventually, the americans started singing it to the british to display their defiance.
The best thing, in my opinion, was that at the surrender at Yorktown, the British played "the world turned upside down", and the American band played "Yankee Doodle". It's the rough musical equivalent to a slap in the face.
Brits: "Hahaha, Behold! We have insulted your lack of fashion sense! Surrender, ye rebels!" American militiamen: "Shoot every guy with a fancy coat and hat first." Proto-Canadians: "Eh bud, what were ya sayin' aboot Kraft dinner?"
I've gone my whole life without hearing any facts about Yankee Doodle Dandy and then on Monday, BBC Radio 4's Mark Steel's in Town mentioned that it was a derogatory term of the British for Americans that wanted to be upper-class. And then this.
This is now the fourth time in a week that I've seen a video of someone explaining this school yard trivia like it was some sudden holy revelation. Seriously, what the hell?
I love how fitting it is For the collage world boss song being... a "collage" of samples Much like how a collage is comprised of existing photos n such This is comprised of different existing samples (at least that's im thinkin, esp with the amen break) albeit in a more chaotic manner
I'm not American, but I technically grew up loving Yankee Doodle, because I loved Barney the Dinosaur. To this day, whenever Yankee Doodle comes up, I still think of Barney.
Thomas Jefferson was actuallly a really big pasta lover specificly macaroni. He had wrote and made his own fav verson where you can get online and make.
I've heard that Yankee Doodle almost became our national anthem. Then, Francis Scott Key wrote the Star Spangled Banner, or someone decided to go with that song instead.
It also made fun of people who dressed 'dandy', which later became the popular style for men during the (correct me if Im misremembering) regency era. But when it first hit the scene it was mocked outside of dandy circles.
I just want to know why Felix Yusupov decided to play Yankee Doodle Dandy on repeat when he murdered Rasputin?? Was it a popular party song during WW1? Or maybe he just heard it in England and liked it? Like I can kinda see the rich, partying students of Bullington Club could have listened to it. I’m not even sure how well he knew the lyrics, his English wasn't great lol. It's definitely a cheerful melody.
Ahem, you brushed past the more scathing of insults in the first line. He's on a pony, HE CANT EVEN AFFORD A HORSE! yankee: American Doodle: idiot Pony: poor Feather: poor classless idiot.
If someone told me “Search and Rescue” was an AI song like the one involving Drake and The Weeknd, I wouldn’t even question it. The song sounds like if AI was used to make a Drake themed YTP.
After this the British did clap back with the same rythm of Yankee Doodle but, their lyrics are thusly Yankee Doodle came to town, for to buy a firelock, we will tar and feather him just as we Will John Hancock There’s also a second verse about George Washington but I might get banned if I say anything about the actual lyrics.
Wait so THAT'S macaroni???? I always thought americans meant the same type of pasta we call "maccheroni" with that word. But yeah now that I think about it, I've never seen an american eat actual maccheroni in american media, but I can easily picture them eating pasta shaped like that. And I also realise I've never eaten macaroni ever. This is blowing my mind.
Yankee Doodle went to.... town? Yankee Doodle went to.... London? 🤔 Hmmmm Is this just another Mandela effect? Somebody please let me know. Im old an I believe it used to be "Went to London... riding on a pony."
The posh in Britain always looked down on their American colonials, including old benji. But you conveniently leave out that the French loved Americans and hosted them at their salons and not only funded but fought in our revolutionary war. I’d say hats off to that macaroni feather or no.
The last thing i expected from a short titled "why yankee doodle is a colonial diss track" was to mention Psycho Killer by Talking Heads. We're eating good today i see
My exact thought
You should look up Wikipedia speedrunning. Be surprised how closely seemingly distant topics actually appear
Talking heads are so underrated, they did so many genres and styles so well, and even when their songs are famous not many people have heard the artist.
@@Wreniffer i absolutely loved the '84 live Stop Making Sense, it was a phenomenal performance.
wait, you can actually see what the short is called before clicking on it?
And in true American fashion, we took an insult and made it our pride, because shaming only works if you feel ashamed.
Or as Stephen Fry put it, someone wrote a song about how Americans are too stupid to make fun of, and to prove the point the Americans love it despite not knowing what it means.
I like to think that socks with sandals is a direct descendant of sticking a feather in our hats. We'd have to feel shame to care, Euros!
@@HuggiesMcSnugglebott
You think something Roman soldiers are known to have done is a... descendant of feathering a cap? Qu'est-ce que c'est?
@@HuggiesMcSnugglebott Ah, but socks and sandals is a thing (if not part of a stereotype) in some European countries as well
that's why our damn country isn't fazed by all the backlash for supporting a genocide lmfao
A liitle more involved than as explained. The aristocratic young hipsters of the English Aristocracy of the era adopted an exaggerated form of dress involving the wear of large wigs, the expense of which was only readily within the economic means of their class.
The Rubes of the colonies are being mocked for thinking that by just sticking a feather into their hat, they not being able to afford the elaborate wig to stick it into, can call themselves 'Macaroni'
Akin to putting a Rolex label on a Timex watch.
So the Yankees adopted that song of derision to play after they defeated the British forces.
I think she said that but it was a bit squeezed in the second half of the clip, after stretching out the macaroni explanation in the first half.
Plus, at its more efflorescent end, it entered into the territory now referred to as "gendersweet-sweet-loving-baby!" :)
And one more layer to the meaning: Macaroni fashion was thought of as effeminate.
Thank you!
I always thought that Yankee Doodle is the Benny Hill theme, which was originally played by Bill Clinton, and it took YEARS to find out it was a parody of him in a Leslie Nielsen movie who did that, not the original sex offender.
It’s funny this insult then just became a fun song Americans like to whistle to
Or for Brits to make football chants mocking predators to
Whistling is the colonial version of rapping
Because Americans sang this at surrendering Redcoats after winning the Revolutionary War as a way of flexing their victory
They had us singing they in elementary school and the whole time we were singing a diss track at our own expense.
That's exactly it though, the American troops co-opted the insult and proudly sang it upon the surrender of the British. The diss was reversed, back to sender as it were.
My elementary school teachers told us the context but also taught us the song
@@Ghostguy693 ah, an “I’m rubber/you’re glue” situation. Nice.
Yankee doodle is a tune
that comes in mighty handy.
Our enemies just run away
at Yankee Doodle Dandie.
It's essentially the same if a modern man drew a G on his belt and called it Gucci
You have seen this before and are paraphrasing as I’ve seen it’s horrid origins
Or wear the bootleg fake stuff
@@wheatandwheatby-products4862 What.. happened?
And that is why I subscribe to this channel.
Finally solving the mystery of a "c'est que ce" question I've had ever since childhood.
"It is that what it is" that's how I've always translated, Qu’est-ce que c’est
I always thought we had forgotten the lyric and macaroni rhymed. The more you know! ❤
Apparently the Dandies of the 19th century adopted a simpler, more “masculine” aesthetic as a rejection of macaroni fashion, which they saw as over-the-top and “foppish”.
When the dandies are calling _you_ foppish, you know it's already too late for you.
this is a joke right?
@@maxonmendel5757 ikr, I didn't realize dandies were more "masculine" than macaronis. 🤔
"Dudes" were also a similar subculture that got its name from Yankee Doodle Dandy, which eventually became a term for just any random guy
It's amazing how polar opposite fashion of 18th century and 19th were. Former is basically Eurovision with men in heels, tights and giant wigs, and latter is UN summit with utensils on heads.
“Boom, roasted!” - The British (probably)
@@DeTAYL. Someone contact John Oliver!!!
“Thou art thoroughly toasted!”
@@Clippidyclappidy- "Th'art"
My toddler had a fedora. I stuck a peacock feather in it and definitely thought it elevated the style. 😂 He looks so cute with it. 😊
It reminds me of a Sesame Street Special sketch with Grover being a waiter for Mr. jones
Mr. J: "THIS WOULD BE A DISH OF MACARONI"
G: "well they're called -jenky dooble macarone- that's why"
Mr. J: "BUT IF IT'S A HAT WITH A FEATHER! AND IT WOULD BE YOUR IDEA OF A HEALTHY LUNCH!
G: "Well, I'm sure it will be rich in fibre
So much knowledge in such a small format. Well done!
My brain immediately went to finnegans wake and then she said it god bless pbs, idea channel introduced me to Joyce and it changed my life
I love that in Kindergarten we used to sing songs after doing the pledge. I LOVED Yankee Doodle song and usually picked that one when it was my turn. 😂 Love that I picked the diss track against my own ancestors. 🤣
@pbsstoried is it possible that the reference in the song is also a variation on the French macquereau? It literally means "mackerel," but as slang, it's a word for "pimp." This is why we call an impressive man a "mack daddy," or that he's "macking on" someone when he's trying to impress them
Related, fishmonger was a slang for pimp in Shakespearean times, notably Hamlet calls Polonius that, implying Ophelia only dates him to spy for her daddy.
As a tumblr post put it, it's like writing a G on your belt and calling it Gucci.
Someone needs to write an updated version of "Yankee Doodle Dandy" based on this.
Well, now I'm all hungry.
I would watch the good Dr. do a full video just about this!
It wasn't just having style! They came back soeaking in an "affected continental fashion" and wore odf clothing: the cut of their coats was different, they wore very large wigs with tiny tricorn hats adorning the top, and more. Potentially one of the first queer subcultures in existence!
Macaroni was an extravagant lifestyle which included very tall wigs, the top of which would be up to 9 inches above the head. In Yankee Doodle the feather was supposed to look like a macaroni wig.
I thought the hat (into which the feather was stuck) was playing the role of the macaroni wig.
@@allendracabal0819 I presumed it's simpler - feathered hat was the most recognizable attribute of high class fashion at the time and phrase to be equivalent of 2000s "these posers just put on black eyeliner and think they're goth".
Very Informative keep up the intellectual history lesson
- Let's talk, macaroni!
- Yes! Speak to us, pasta!
By the Civil War, Yankee Doodles wore feathers in their hat all the time! (The M1858 Hardee, dress and western hat)
I recently watched a video explaining that the origin of the word “Dude” comes from this song as well, from the word doodle. It basically meant someone dressed up as something they’re not. Then the term Dude Ranch sprung up meaning the people that were clients basically dressed up in cowboy attire even though they weren’t cowboys and basically played cowboy for a week.
I guess it’s the white version of dropping an N bomb, because neither word was originally a term of affection but a slander.
Prior to the Revolution, the Brits sang this to diss us.
After the Revolution, we sang it to diss them. 🇺🇲😎🇺🇲 #GoUSA
Ooooh never been this early to a YT short
And 300 years later the Brits are STILL calling us Yankees 💀 Like grow up for real
You're own Southerners call you Yankees
@@malalford didn't ask
@@malalfordThe Southerners aren't typically using it as a xenophobic insult. The British are.
Your comment is like saying, "Black people still use the N Word so I should be allowed to use it as much as I want"
thank you I needed this
It was also often used during the revolutionary war as a mocking song for the patriots, with some versions even explicitly mentioning “captain washington”. eventually, the americans started singing it to the british to display their defiance.
The best thing, in my opinion, was that at the surrender at Yorktown, the British played "the world turned upside down", and the American band played "Yankee Doodle". It's the rough musical equivalent to a slap in the face.
Brits: "Hahaha, Behold! We have insulted your lack of fashion sense! Surrender, ye rebels!"
American militiamen: "Shoot every guy with a fancy coat and hat first."
Proto-Canadians: "Eh bud, what were ya sayin' aboot Kraft dinner?"
I've gone my whole life without hearing any facts about Yankee Doodle Dandy and then on Monday, BBC Radio 4's Mark Steel's in Town mentioned that it was a derogatory term of the British for Americans that wanted to be upper-class.
And then this.
Cover "Calkwalk" next, please
I read that Macaroni was the family name of a high fashion Italian hatmaker.
yankee doodle went to town
riding on a pony
stuck a feather in his cap
ayy macarena
She is an excellent host!
This is now the fourth time in a week that I've seen a video of someone explaining this school yard trivia like it was some sudden holy revelation. Seriously, what the hell?
Google knows what you like.
It’s a shame for them that was such a banger
Lol so basically macaroni and cheese is high class...nice😅
I've always wondered why he stuck a father in his hay and called it "macaroni." Thanks!
Honestly, sometimes social media feel like some alternate dystopian reality
I love how fitting it is
For the collage world boss song being... a "collage" of samples
Much like how a collage is comprised of existing photos n such
This is comprised of different existing samples (at least that's im thinkin, esp with the amen break) albeit in a more chaotic manner
Finnigan wake reference was hilarious
Did anyone else sing the gross version of this song in elementary school? “Yankee doodle went to town riding on a rocket.” 😂
I'm not American, but I technically grew up loving Yankee Doodle, because I loved Barney the Dinosaur. To this day, whenever Yankee Doodle comes up, I still think of Barney.
i was wondering where i heard this tune from, i love barney!
Thomas Jefferson was actuallly a really big pasta lover specificly macaroni. He had wrote and made his own fav verson where you can get online and make.
It took me a few seconds too long to see the pun in drei martini
I've heard that Yankee Doodle almost became our national anthem. Then, Francis Scott Key wrote the Star Spangled Banner, or someone decided to go with that song instead.
In the 90s we called them posers
The first person to cook macaroni and cheese in America was a Black man who was Thomas Jefferson’s Paris trained chef.
In Brazil, we call bad English (or other foreign languagues) "maccaronic"
An English lad marrying a Southern (American) lass (or vice versa) is a match made in Heaven! Their children would inherit the best traits of both.
It also made fun of people who dressed 'dandy', which later became the popular style for men during the (correct me if Im misremembering) regency era. But when it first hit the scene it was mocked outside of dandy circles.
The French still call the Italians Macaroni. Don't forget that whike he was President JFK's horse was also named Macaroni.
Macaroni was the actual style that was brought back.
I was just thinking about this song the other day wondering what the colonial children were smoking to come up with this.
TALKING HEADS MENTIONED🗣🔊‼️‼️‼️
I just want to know why Felix Yusupov decided to play Yankee Doodle Dandy on repeat when he murdered Rasputin?? Was it a popular party song during WW1? Or maybe he just heard it in England and liked it?
Like I can kinda see the rich, partying students of Bullington Club could have listened to it. I’m not even sure how well he knew the lyrics, his English wasn't great lol. It's definitely a cheerful melody.
🔥🔥🔥‼️‼️🗣️🗣️🗣️🗣️TALKING HEADS MENTIONED🗣️🗣️🗣️🔥🔥‼️‼️‼️🔥🔥🔥🔥
Funny! Didn’t know all of that.
The original pretentious year abroad kids lol.
Can we use macaroni as translation of "melange"?
Mind blown! 😮
Basically, if we're just a bunch of "yankee doodle dandys, who think they're macaroni," then what are you? Because we won.
Yes
Imagine pretending that a feather in their hat looked less cool than the standard British military hats.
Ahem, you brushed past the more scathing of insults in the first line. He's on a pony, HE CANT EVEN AFFORD A HORSE!
yankee: American
Doodle: idiot
Pony: poor
Feather: poor classless idiot.
If someone told me “Search and Rescue” was an AI song like the one involving Drake and The Weeknd, I wouldn’t even question it. The song sounds like if AI was used to make a Drake themed YTP.
After this the British did clap back with the same rythm of Yankee Doodle but, their lyrics are thusly
Yankee Doodle came to town, for to buy a firelock, we will tar and feather him just as we Will John Hancock
There’s also a second verse about George Washington but I might get banned if I say anything about the actual lyrics.
That was a sick burn.
I always thought Macaroni was the name of the pony?
So... this song is the Brits making fun of us and we teach it to our children 😅
I've never been sure if when he stuck a feather in his hat he was naming the feather or the hat or the pony "macaroni." What do you think?
King George has been real quiet since this dropped 🏴🇬🇧🤴🥶
And then we loved the song so much, we stole it and call it our song.
featherile dysfunction
*mentions Finnegans Wake*
I am Irish, got a problem with Finnegan's Wake? *Homelander laugh*
Do the brutal intertribal warfare of the native Americans before colonialism next😊
Wait so THAT'S macaroni???? I always thought americans meant the same type of pasta we call "maccheroni" with that word. But yeah now that I think about it, I've never seen an american eat actual maccheroni in american media, but I can easily picture them eating pasta shaped like that. And I also realise I've never eaten macaroni ever. This is blowing my mind.
FRED HAMMOND 😭
Thus, the modern version would be "stuck a G on their belt and called it Gucci" as per that one Tumblr post said perfectly
information is still missing
I never understood the song because the version we sang as kids he stuck the feather up his butt
Drei martinis is hilarious
Yankee Doodle went to.... town?
Yankee Doodle went to.... London?
🤔 Hmmmm
Is this just another Mandela effect?
Somebody please let me know.
Im old an I believe it used to be "Went to London... riding on a pony."
Who knew that RM likes to write macaronics😊
No little has changed
And then when the British surrendered George Washington had the military play Yankee Doodle spinning it back onto the British.
Just a bit of banter.
hey macarena
People from connecticut rn: 😎
Calling it macaroni meant he called it stylish (not a diss)
Oooooh GOTTEM
Is Spanglish macaroni?
The posh in Britain always looked down on their American colonials, including old benji. But you conveniently leave out that the French loved Americans and hosted them at their salons and not only funded but fought in our revolutionary war. I’d say hats off to that macaroni feather or no.
Not relevant little buddy
The French funded and supported the American separatists because it screwed with the British, not because of an innate love and appreciation of them.
It’s so sad how long queer people have been mocked. Let them use feathers if they want to
Her description of what macaronic means was very confusing. The examples didn't really match what she described. I had to replay it a couple times.
I heard yeah that you were trying to be like an Italian which was you know fancy when you were called a macaroni because of the pasta in Italy.
Woah
I can't seem to face up to the facts....😁